On 3rd September, the County Council’s Communities and Place Committee met to discuss recent funding updates from the Government along with its plans and priorities for cycling in Nottinghamshire.
Councillor John Cottee, Communities and Place Chairman for Nottinghamshire County Council said: “Recent data has shown there has been a huge increase in recreational cycling across the county which is great for not only health reasons but also for the environment.
“During the last five years we have invested £4m on cycling improvements. This has helped us to improve cycle networks across the county and to help with routes around new housing development to assist with employment.
“I’m really keen that we secure any available funding to help with the surge in interest in cycling and to make it as safe and easy as possible for local people to get about on two wheels.”
The County Council has a cycling strategy which was developed to deliver national and local objectives relating to the economy, environment and physical and mental health needs. Future priorities discussed will continue to support and deliver the agreed themes alongside looking at value for money and the feasibility of delivering schemes.
As part of Covid measures, the County Council has recently bid for the second round of Government funding to help embed walking and cycling as future habits, in the short term this will help with preventing overcrowding on public transport.
Additional guidance is also being sought from the Government on the plan to introduce ‘mini-Holland’ schemes which would see roads transformed into cycle and pedestrian friendly ‘streetscapes’ as commonly seen in Holland.
Recent funding has been received by Derby and Nottingham City Councils as part of the Transforming Cities Fund. This money is to address mobility pressures particularly for access to employment and skills development, investments that will help new homes delivery and access to jobs and to also encourage more sustainable travel options.
The schemes being considered are a new cycle route from Nottingham to Derby through Beeston and Chilwell, a new route from Nottingham to East Midlands Airport, improvements of the existing Netherfield to Nottingham cycle route, a new, upgraded River Trent cycle crossing and improvements to the approaches to the river crossing. A further paper is going to the Council’s Policy Committee on 30 September with more detail on these options and for approval to progress.
